- •Contents
- •The Future-In-The-Past Tense……………………………………………………………..45 the present indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Present Indefinite.
- •1. The Present Indefinite is formed from the infinitive without the particle to.
- •9. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of time after conjunctions when
- •10. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of condition after conjunctions if
- •In case
- •11. To denote future actions in adverbial clauses of concession after conjunctions
- •What do we do next?
- •The present continuous tense
- •III. The Present Continuous Tense is used to denote:
- •Actions or events which are in progress at the moment of speaking. To emphasize this, we often use adverbials like now, at the moment, just, etc.:
- •6. For a frequently repeated action, usually when the frequency annoys the speaker or
- •7. For an action which appears to be continuous:
- •8. To describe current trends:
- •Verbs not normally used in the continuous tenses
- •VII. Verbs denoting effect or influence: astonish, impress, please, satisfy, surprise. Feel, look, smell and taste used in the continuous forms
- •2. Look
- •3. Smell
- •4.Taste
- •See and hear used in the continuous forms
- •Think, assume and expect used in the continuous forms
- •The past indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Past Indefinite.
- •Verbs ending in -e add -d only:
- •3. The contracted negative forms are:
- •4. The negative-interrogative forms are:
- •Irregular verbs: form
- •If the period is over or reference is made to a particular past point of time within that
- •2. In narrations to express a succession of action of past actions.
- •3. To express recurrent actions. It is generally supported by the use of adverbial modifiers
- •4. To express the immediate past. We can sometimes use the simple past without a time
- •6. To express permanent actions which indicate continuous, uninterrupted processes in the past, giving a general characteristic of the person or thing denoted by the subject.
- •The past continuous tense
- •2. The Past Continuous is used to express an action going on at a given period of time in the past.
- •The future indefinite (simple) tense
- •I. The formation of the Future Indefinite Tense
- •1. The Future Indefinite is formed by means of the auxiliary verbs shall/will
- •3. To denote future habitual actions which we assume will take place.
- •4. In sentences containing clauses of condition, time and sometimes purpose
- •The future continuous tense
- •The present perfect tense
- •III. The use of the Present Perfect
- •Have you been to Denmark?
- •Is this the first time you’ve been in hospital?
- •The present perfect continuous tense
- •I. The formation of the Present Perfect Continuous Tense
- •The past perfect tense
- •Had he not worked?
- •Hadn’t you worked?
- •The Squire was purple with anger before his son had done speaking.
- •With verbs not admitting of the Continuous form:
- •In negative sentences:
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Had he not been working?
- •Hadn’t you been working?
- •III. The use of the Past Perfect Continuous
- •The future perfect tense
- •I. The formation of thePerfect Continuous Tense
- •Will he not have worked?
- •Shan’t we have worked?
- •III. The use of the Future Perfect
- •The future perfect continuous tense
- •I. The formation of the Future Perfect Continuous Tense
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •The Future Perfect Continuous denotes an action begun before a definite moment in the future and continued into that future moment;
- •The future-indefinite-in-the-past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Indefinite-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Shouldn’t I work/
- •III. The use of the Future-Indefinite-in-the-Past.
- •The future-continuous-in-the-past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •I. The formation of the Future-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •I. The formation of the Future-Perfect-in-the-Past
- •II. The contracted affirmative forms are:
- •Should I not have been working?
- •Wouldn’t he have been working?
- •III. The use of the Future-Perfect-Continuous-in-the-Past
- •List of irregular verbs
- •Appendix
- •I. Some spelling rules
- •I. Doubling the final consonant.
- •II. Mute Final e.
- •III. Final -y and Its Modifications.
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Actions or events which are in progress at the moment of speaking. To emphasize this, we often use adverbials like now, at the moment, just, etc.:
Someone's knocking at the door. Can you answer it?
What are you doing? - I'm just tying up my shoe-laces.
He's working at the moment, so he can't come to the telephone.
What's the baby doing? ~ He's tearing up a £5 note
Actions in progress are seen as uncompleted.
He is talking to his girlfriend on the phone.
We can emphasize the idea of duration with still.
He is still talking to his girlfriend on the phone.
The Present Continuous can be used to denote a certain state or quality peculiar to
the person at a given moment.
You are being nervous.
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for an action happening about this time but not necessarily at the moment of speaking:
He is teaching French and learning Greek.
Indications of time are not necessary.
They are getting ready to move to their new house.
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for a definite arrangement in the near future (the most usual way of expressing one's immediate plans):
I'm meeting Peter tonight. He is taking me to the theatre.
He is having a meeting with the boss this afternoon.
Note that the time of the action must always be mentioned, as otherwise there might be confusion between present and future meanings, come and go, however, can be used in this way without a time expression.
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with a point in time to indicate an action which begins before this point and probably
continues after it:
At six I am bathing the baby. (I start bathing him before six.)
5. to express the action generally characterizing the person denoted by the subject, bringing out the person’s typical traits. Often the adverbial modifiers always and constantly are found in these sentences:
You are constantly complaining that you have too much to do.
He is always losing his keys.
The Present Continuous in this case imparts a subjective, emotionally coloured tone.When no emotional colouring is implied, the Present Indefinite is used:
Old uncle Harry is always thinking he’s going to be ruined.
You people always think I’ve a bag of money.
6. For a frequently repeated action, usually when the frequency annoys the speaker or
seems unreasonable to him:
Tom is always going away for weekends.
(Present continuous) would imply that he goes away very often, probably too often in
the speaker's opinion.
7. For an action which appears to be continuous:
He's always working = He works the whole time.
This sort of action quite often annoys the speaker but doesn't necessarily do so
8. To describe current trends:
People are becoming less tolerant of smoking these days
The population of the world is increasing.